Dong!
Dong!
Dong!
The sound of a bell rang!
In that exact instant, every light within Poppy's Potions simultaneously flickered.
Following the bell, a deep, ancient resonance spread through the building like the toll of some massive grandfather clock that had been hidden deep beneath the earth. The sound was low and heavy, vibrating through wood, glass, flesh, and bone alike, causing many of the guests to instinctively stiffen where they sat and stood.
Dong!
The second series of tolls seemed to echo louder than the first.
The surrounding people immediately began looking around, searching for the source of the sound, but there was no clock anywhere in sight.
Finally, someone noticed something deeply unsettling.
"…The walls…"
It was a low murmur, one that seemed uncertain, but everyone heard it…
Glancing around, the surrounding room had begun to change.
At first, it was subtle. The wooden walls seemed slightly darker than before, the lantern light became dimmer and strangely stretched slightly further, then the floor gently shifted beneath their feet, rising and sinking in slow, subtle waves like the breathing flesh of old wood.
Before panic could even begin to bubble up—
The windows blurred into black smears while the shadows around the ceiling unnaturally deepened.
The entire shop felt as if it were sinking somewhere far away, somewhere deep into the darkness.
Dong!
Dong!
Dong!
The third series of tolls rang out!
Several people stood up abruptly, their chairs scraping across the floor. One woman knocked her drink off the table as the front entrance slowly faded into the darkness right before her eyes, its outline becoming indistinct like wet ink dissolving into water.
Countless voices, on a scale that seemed to exceed those present, all began to call out in panic.
But just then, as the tension reached its peak—
Tock!
Something invisible snapped, and instantly, everything returned to normal!
The walls stopped moving, the floor seemed to stabilize, and the flickering lanternlight steadied. For a brief moment, many people even thought it had all been an illusion.
At least—
That was what they thought at first...
Because moments later, someone finally realized something horrifying!
The windows were still pitch black, and the entrance door was gone, completely gone, as if it had never existed in the first place!
Silence spread through the room.
Then, after what felt like an eternity, the murmuring started.
"What happened…?"
"Where's the exit?!"
"Is this some kind of array?"
"Don't push!"
"Stay close to me…!"
"Is this the thing? It's too early!"
The atmosphere instantly became chaotic.
Tap…
Tap…
Tap…
Sharp footsteps echoed through the room, causing everyone to turn simultaneously.
Kora, 'tonight's guide', had stepped out from behind the counter.
At first glance, nothing about her appearance had changed. Her outfit remained the same, her expression remained calm and cute, and her tall figure still carried the same mature, yet slightly oppressive elegance as before.
And yet, despite all this—
Everyone present immediately understood that something was different…
The rabbit girl now carried an indescribable etherealness around her body, as if the boundary between illusion and reality had become blurred. Even her pale pink eyes seemed deeper than before, carrying a strange reflective red glow beneath the light.
Some people unconsciously stepped backward.
Only now did they realize that they could not sense this person's cultivation level, but no one believed, not even for a moment, that she was a mortal!
Kora smiled gently.
"Welcome, everyone," she said in a soft voice. "The 'Midnight Event' has officially begun. Please follow me, and I will take you towards the crossroads…" Her voice was smooth and warm, but the moment it entered everyone's ears, the surrounding noise instinctively became even quieter.
"Please follow me," she repeated…
Without waiting for anyone's agreement, she turned and began walking deeper into the building.
And one by one—
All the guests followed...
-
Near the middle of the crowd, the two cloaked figures that had entered after Petra from earlier exchanged an uneasy glance, quietly walking alongside the others.
"…This place is really, really wrong," he muttered beneath his hood, clearly uneasy.
The other man kept his eyes forward, but he shared the same sense of deep dread.
"We're not here for the rumored opportunity, don't forget that..." He whispered, trying to stay calm.
Even now, these two figures didn't know the source of their discomfort, but they both felt as if they were being choked by an invisible noose that pulled them forward. Their mission was simple, they were tracking Petra, nothing more, nothing less. The so-called Ghost Shop was just a coincidence, but why had they gotten sucked into it so easily? They definitely didn't believe that it was a fated opportunity!
Damn it!
"…Are you absolutely sure this is the right place?"
"It should be..." He nodded as if trying to confirm it to himself.
Neither of them sounded particularly confident anymore.
They had definitely seen Petra enter this place, but even now, they still couldn't see her figure, as if she had disappeared completely after entering…
-
Towards the back of the crowd, an elderly woman slowly wobbled forward while tightly holding the wrists of two young girls that followed closely beside her. The old woman smiled kindly, but unfortunately, her smile somehow looked deeply twisted beneath the darkened lantern light, producing a long shadow that seemed to lack facial features.
Meanwhile, the two girls looked more excited than frightened, but they also held a strange sense of detachment from the world that didn't quite fit their age…
-
Nearby, a massive lion-type beastman carefully guided two beast cubs through the crowd.
One cub was a small white pom-pom with large white wolf ears, and the other was a long rope-like furball with sharp and pointed cat ears and a tail. Both 'children' stared around the distorted building with sparkling eyes filled with excitement, while their exhausted 'father' silently questioned the life decisions that had brought him here tonight.
-
As for our legendary trio—
Mm, Spiky Red looked completely dumbstruck!
"…I knew it, I knew it!" he whispered dramatically while gripping his shiny red sword.
"The chosen time has arrived, yes…!"
The bulky man beside him only looked seconds away from passing out, while the woman nervously clutched her whip hard enough to impale her own hands, causing blood to drip.
"…Boss," she shakily muttered. "What if we die? Can w-we really handle this…?"
Spiky Red immediately snorted.
"Hah! Death fears the strong! To survive, we must advance without restraint!"
"…Boss, your legs are shaking."
"…T-That's battle intent! Damn it!"
* * *
Verdelith Castle, in a different place—
Petra sat comfortably curled up atop an oversized sofa, her bootless little toes sinking into the cushion as she wrapped herself up in a blanket and pulled her knees to her chest.
On the sixth floor of the main tower was an observation room. This room served as both a mapping room to plan out their future path, and a lounge with an incredible view of the surroundings. Not only were the magic mirrors that were once located in the rooftop garden of the Tower Spider moved here, but a series of other entertainment tools were also brought up as well.
The room was a large cylindrical space with a massive mapping table located in the center. Tucked along the upper rim of the complexly carved walls, and located between the massive, curved windows, six magic mirrors glowed with a soft, ethereal light, casting a gentle radiance over the silent space. Below, three oversized couch sets gracefully followed the curvature, creating intimate little nooks that felt like small private islands that were each isolated by paper partitions painted by professionals. Each seating space was a cozy little retreat, where the girls could gather in their own little worlds, wrapped in the quiet stillness of the tower and its vast view of the horizon.
And it was exactly here where Petra was peacefully perched and preparing to play…
She hummed to herself as a faint green glow illuminated her small face.
Floating between her hands was a translucent crystal panel.
The 'Crystal Tome' had originally been Petra's first attempt at creating an information-recording tool when she was too poor to procure paper. Compared to her current means, it was already somewhat obsolete, but this new and upgraded version was a bit different!
It was far more refined, and instead of being a replacement for books, it became something more like a modern tablet, only lacking everything except audio and video. The glowing green panel almost resembled a primitive system interface, appearing both ethereal and hollow, possessing only basic functions such as sound transmission, visual recording, and the means for long-distance observation. In other words, it was the same as the magic mirror, just a handheld version that could be swiped to change the perspective to those who were marked.
In Petras hand, the Crystal Tome—no, the 'Crystal Panel' was currently displaying the group of people entering the backroom.
Despite its many flaws and somewhat clunky appearance, Petra liked it very much!
Perhaps it was a bit of nostalgia, but it reminded her of movie night!
Mm, at least, her version of movie night…
Nearby, Wind watched the scene unfold through another floating screen and hesitated slightly.
"…Isn't it too early to start?" she asked in confusion.
How could the 'Midnight Event' begin before midnight?
Petra lazily waved one hand dismissively. "Mm? Midnight is whenever I decide it is! Nyahahaha! Silly girl! What do you know! Midnight is only a fictional concept created by the strong! Midnight is not at midnight, no, not at all! Midnight is when I decide it is!" She puffed out her cheeks in protest, appearing to almost question Wind's nonsensical question as she spoke, her words slurring near the end!
"So, with that said, what's the problem?" Petra looked up and narrowed her eyes.
Wind opened her mouth slightly. She wanted to tell Petra that it was unreasonable, but in the end, she just closed her mouth and pursed her lips.
Honestly, arguing with Petra about 'concepts' like 'time' already felt exhausting, even before it started…
* * *
Back to the guide group—
The crowd was eventually led into the backroom of the building...
They looked around.
The room was dimly lit, rectangular, and impossibly large compared to the outside of the building. Along the far wall stood five massive doors, each completely different from the others. One was black, one was silver, one was green, one was wooden, and one appeared almost transparent beneath the shifting light, like glass. They looked like a festival game, where one had to choose their prize and get lucky.
Kora stopped before the doors with a small smile.
"Behind these doors—"
She began her explanation, turning towards the guests…
"—One leads to death, one leads to fortune, one leads to opportunity, one leads outside, and one…"
Everyone looked at her with emotional eyes…
Her smile deepened slightly.
"…leads to eternal damnation!" The deepening smile seemed to twist into something sadistic…
Silence spread through the room.
In truth—
One door led outside, one led to the ant mines, one led to the upper canopy of the Emerald Ghost Tree, one led to the poison garden, and one led directly into Petra's personal laboratory. Also, when Kora says 'random', she obviously means that it depends on Petra's mood…
Unfortunately for the guests—
None of them knew which was which.
The truth behind the Ghost Store, or the Midnight Event, was that Petra just wanted to test and train the abilities of the Castle Crawler and learn more about the Void Mimic Bloodline and how it controlled space. This originally was just a passing interest, but after Petra learned that its innate ability to manipulate space was a complete cheat, she couldn't help but create this little game to play around!
Poppy's Potions was just a small structure built underground in the territory of the Verdelith Castle.
Everything from the front door and the windows to the missing backroom and kitchen was just small tricks—blended together to create a storefront that normal people simply couldn't see through. In truth, the door could be connected anywhere, the windows were nothing more than a magic spell, the kitchen connected directly to the second floor of the main tower, and the backroom was a completely new room created from empty space.
As for why the main building and the backroom were different, one being a prop built underground and the other a completely new space that was opened up and didn't exist in normal space, that was because Petra didn't know if the backroom would suddenly become unstable and implode in on itself.
It was a test, all of it was a test!
Regarding the opportunity, obviously, it was bullshit, complete nonsense that she herself spread!
As for these people, those who could find and enter the building…
Well—!
They were either terrible people, evil people, people Petra wanted to play with, or people who were genuinely here for a fated opportunity...